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A major snowstorm on the U.S. East Coast kept many people away from malls just after Christmas, casting a pall on the final act of the holiday shopping season.
The weekend’s blizzard conditions, which shut down airports and halted traffic, may also signal an end to shoppers’ appetite in the next few months. Retail shares declined more than the wider stock market on Monday. Get the full story »
Amazon.com Inc. said its third-generation Kindle is the best-selling product in its history, taking the title from the book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” though the online retail giant didn’t disclose the number of units sold.
The company said that on its peak day, Nov. 29, also known as Cyber Monday, customers ordered more than 13.7 million items, up 44 percent from its peak day a year earlier, when customers ordered more than 9.5 million items. Get the full story »
An employee at a store in New York, Dec. 6, 2010. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
New U.S. claims for jobless benefits dipped last week and consumer spending increased in November for a fifth straight month, reinforcing views of a solid economic growth pace in the fourth quarter.
Initial claims fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, matching economists’ expectations.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed spending rose 0.4 percent after increasing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in October. Get the full story »
Amid a tough economy, Walgreens first-quarter profits jumped nearly 19 percent in its first quarter thanks to intensifying cost controls such as slowing store expansions. The results, which beat analysts’ expectations, come even as the Deerfield-based drugstore giant’s sales at stores open at least a year grew less than one percent in the period ended Nov. 30. Get the full story »
A Snuggie pub crawl in Chicago. (Chicago Now)
The line has expanded to include dog Snuggies. (Snuggie)
New York Times News Service | Consumers purchased about 4 million Snuggies during the 2008 holiday season and, typically, a success story for a kitschy infomercial product would end there. But not so for the blanket with arms, which, from a marketing perspective, turns out to have legs as well.
By the end of 2010, maker Allstar Products Group will have sold 25 million blankets, the equivalent of one for about every 12 residents of the United States, and Scott Boilen, president of Allstar Products, which is based in Hawthorne, N.Y., says there is no indication that sales are waning. Get the full story »
New York Times News Service | This holiday season, Sears and Kmart, which merged in 2005, are pushing a single message: Buy with layaway, buy with coupons, buy now and pay later, buy with loyalty rewards points — but please, just buy.
Five years after the merger, Sears Holdings is beleaguered, with sales markedly worse than its competitors’. The company’s revenue dropped more than 10 percent from 2005 through 2009, the most recent full fiscal year. In the same time period, Wal-Mart’s sales rose almost 31 percent, Target’s more than 24 percent and Macy’s about 5 percent. Sales at J.C. Penney declined by about 6 percent. Get the full story »
The holidays are supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill toward others, but Consumer Reports is warning gift givers and recipients that crooks are on the lookout for packages left languishing on doorsteps.
“Brazen package snatchers have been known to shadow FedEx, UPS and U.S. Post Office trucks, swooping in to steal items if the homeowners are away or too slow to retrieve them,” Consumer Reports says. Get the full story »
An Illinois couple convicted of defrauding Best Buy out of more than $32.8 million and failing to pay taxes on their fraudulent gains has been sentenced.
Prosecutors alleged that Russell and Abby Cole of Deerfield systematically overbilled the Richfield-based electronics retailer for four years through an online auction program. Get the full story »
Bankrupt video rental chain Blockbuster Inc. plans to close 182 stores by the end of the first quarter as it tries to find a way back on its feet.
The largest U.S. video rental chain plans to close 72 stores by Jan. 1 and 110 more in the first quarter of 2011, according to documents filed Friday in Manhattan’s bankruptcy court. Get the full story »
U.S. online sales are up 12 percent to $27.5 billion so far this holiday shopping season compared with a year ago, according to research firm comScore. Get the full story »
From the Chicago Sun-Times | City planners Thursday endorsed a mixed-used development on the site of the old Lincoln Park Hospital on the North Side in a rare move to override the wishes of the local alderman. The proposal by Sandz Development Co. calls for a Fresh Market store on the 3-acre site at Halsted and Webster. It also includes a medical office building, about 160 residences and public parking. Get the full story>>
Bloomberg News | Starting Jan. 6, Macintosh users will be able to purchase and download software from an online store much like they do music apps for their smart phones, Apple announced Thursday. Available in 90 countries, the Mac App Store will offer paid and free applications in education, games and design.
Sears Holdings Corp. signed a deal with retailer Work ‘N Gear to operate uniforms shops inside Sears and Kmart stores.
The shops, called Scrubology, are range from 600 to 1,500 square feet and sell uniforms for healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, veterinarians and lab technicians. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Real Estate | A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive has told a North Side alderman that the retail giant has not signed an agreement to lease a store in the Lakeview neighborhood.
“Wal-Mart has not executed a lease or a letter of intent with the developer to locate a store on the property known as Broadway at Surf,” Maggie Sans, a Wal-Mart vice-president of public affairs and government relations, said in a statement. Get the full story>>
Top consumer electronics chain Best Buy Co. Inc. reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit on a surprise drop in sales at established stores and a decline in its U.S. market share.
The lackluster report from the retailer seen as a bellwether in consumer electronics pushed its shares down 14.5 percent in morning trading and cast a shadow on the strength of the recovery in the consumer-driven U.S. economy.
